Fears Of Lynchings In Atlanta Area After Two People Are Found Hanging From Trees

Both deaths are reported to be public suicides.

In the past three weeks, there have been two people found hanging from trees in the metro Atlanta area. A woman was discovered near a Walmart in College Park, Georgia on May 14. And a man was found near Atlanta University Center on April 27. Both deaths were reported to be public suicides.

Reporter Rikki Klaus wrote on Twitter on May 14, “An unidentified woman was found hanging from a tree overnight near a Walmart on Old National Highway. She said the investigation revealed the woman killed herself.” The race of the woman has not been revealed. However, College Park is 78 percent African-American.

AJC.com said the man hanging from a tree on April 27 was in his late twenties. The outlet also reported, “The preliminary investigation shows the male had a chain wrapped around his neck, Atlanta police Sgt. John Chafee said. The chain was locked in several places and keys to the locks were found in one of the victim’s pockets, Chafee said. Investigators canvassed the area and located one person who said they overheard someone yelling ‘don’t do it,’ Chafee said.” This was also found to be a suicide.

While both deaths have been reported as a suicide, some people are skeptical. See some of the tweets below:

2nd in the Atlanta area in 30 days and the police predictably will not investigate despite decades of history of white ppl lynching Black people in such a manner. You cannot trust the police to protect you or bring you justice.

Fearing lynchings is not unrealistic, especially for African-Americans. From 1877 to 1950, Georgia had the second highest number of lynchings in the country. Therefore, reports of people hanging from tears creates realistic fears. Furthermore, lynchings have not disappeared. There are modern day lynchings all over the country.

Again, the race of the two people who were found have not been revealed, which is also peculiar, but we can only hope their deaths are properly investigated.

Our condolences go out to the families and friends affected by these tragedies.